Aug 16, 2011 · A friend claims that the phrase for free is incorrect. Should we only say at no cost instead?

My company gives out free promotional items with the company name on it. Is this stuff called company swag or schwag? It seems that both come up as common usages—Google …

Apr 15, 2017 · If so, my analysis amounts to a rule in search of actual usage—a prescription rather than a description. In any event, the impressive rise of "free of" against "free from" over …

May 20, 2022 · The fact that it was well-established long before OP's 1930s movies is attested by this sentence in the Transactions of the Annual Meeting from the South Carolina Bar …

Sep 16, 2011 · The choice of prepositions depends upon the temporal context in which you're speaking. "On ~ afternoon" implies that the afternoon is a single point in time; thus, that …

Saying free or available rather than busy may be considered a more "positive" enquiry. It may also simply mean that you expect the person to be busy rather than free, rather than the other way …

Q&A for linguists, etymologists, and serious English language enthusiasts

Aug 16, 2011 · What does until mean in the following? You need to deliver this product within 2 days (until August 18, 2011) to meet your deadline and get paid. Does this mean that I have to …

Example: "are you free on the weekend so we can get together?" means this coming weekend or the implied weekend in reference whereas "are you free on a weekend?"

Mar 13, 2014 · When offering something based on good will, is it polite to convey to them that this is being done as a gesture of good will?